Suarez should not be sacked! Former Red Barnes says talk of axing striker over Ivanovic bite is 'ridiculous'

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has branded talk of Luis Suarez never playing for the Reds again as 'ridiculous' after the Uruguay forward’s bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

Suarez apologised first via his Twitter account and then through a statement issued on the club’s website for the incident, which happened before he scored a dramatic equaliser seven minutes into stoppage time to make the final score 2-2 at Anfield.

The club also issued an 'unreserved apology', saying the 26-year-old’s behaviour was 'not befitting of any player wearing a Liverpool shirt'.

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Moment of madness: Luis Suarez sinks his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic's arm last season

Shocked: You can see the surprise and anger of Ivanovic's face after the bite from Suarez

Proof: Ivanovic shows referee Kevin Friend the bite marks on his arm after the incident

What the former Reds said...

David Fairclough (on Sky Sports News)‘He’s the best player in the team at the
moment, he’s one of the best players in the world, his ability is
unquestioned and his performances this season have generally been top
class, so to just wipe their hands of him and send him packing I think
would be a little bit extreme.

‘It’s obviously not good for Liverpool,
it has besmirched Liverpool’s name. Certainly Liverpool don’t want to be
in the news this morning for this type of thing.

‘Clearly Luis needs a little bit of help, he has an anger issue I suspect, that’s his drive to win and compete.

‘I think Liverpool have to try and work
with Luis Suarez, he’s shown improvement in other ways over the last 18
months to two years and hopefully they can find a suitable solution, but
it would be dramatic just to let him go just on this incident.

‘I don’t want to make a sweeping
statement and say he should be transferred straight away or protected
either way, I think there has to be discussion.'

Alan Hansen (on Match of the Day 2)'You’re not expecting anything like
this. This is absolutely appalling. Why he did it, we will never know.
He’s got previous, there’s obviously a massive flaw in the character.

'To watch these pictures that will be
going right round the world is horrific for Liverpool Football Club,
their history, their tradition, and for the player himself. When he sees
these images, he’ll be apoplectic. It’s just appallingly bad.

‘He’s a brilliant player that’s had a
brilliant season and if Liverpool get rid of him the losers will be
Liverpool, there’s no doubt about that. There’ll be lots of clubs
wanting to take him.

There have since been calls from some quarters for the Anfield club to sack the star striker, who was last week shortlisted for the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award, but Barnes believes that would be a step too far.

The former England international told BBC Radio Five: 'He has to suffer the consequences of his actions - that’s all he has to do.

'I’ve heard talk about him not playing for Liverpool again, which I think is ridiculous. I’ve heard talk about him bringing the good name of Liverpool down, which is also ridiculous - he’s brought his own good name down.

'If you’re saying because of what he’s done he should never play for Liverpool again, who should he play for?

'Whoever signs him, it’s going to reflect badly that they sign a player who Liverpool deem from a moral perspective not good enough.

'So Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona... they can sign him? But we can’t have him? If you’re questioning his moral character, what you’re actually saying is that if he can’t play for Liverpool he can’t play for anyone, which is ridiculous.

'The reflection on Liverpool is their response to the actions and their response is right. The response from (managing director) Ian Ayre and the club is ‘it’s completely unacceptable and we will not accept it’.'

The player looks set to face a lengthy ban for the incident, with Barnes saying Liverpool should wait until the Football Association has dealt with the matter before possibly dishing out their own sanctions.

'The FA should act first and Liverpool will then see what punishment is meted out and then come up with their own conclusions, because they could ban him for five or seven games and then he gets another 10-game ban for the FA rather than the FA banning him or doing whatever they have to do first,' he said.

'They should see what the FA do and then respond after.'

Chew have got to be kidding: Ivanovic points to the marks on his arm after the bite from the Liverpool striker

It had to be him: Suarez scored Liverpool's equaliser against Chelsea - deep into injury-time

Calm down: Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has backed Suarez to stay at Anfield